"The district has an inventory of buildings that are approximately 92 years old in average age," School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson told the City Council this week.

The council approved the bond after the state Board of Education also OK'd the projects Wednesday. Wilson said the state will reimburse the city 71.5 percent of the debt service; the district will be on the hook to repay the remainder.

David Sciarra, executive director of the Newark-based Education Law Center, a legal education advocacy group, questioned why local taxpayers should be on the hook for these projects.

"The projects on the list for the Newark bond are clearly the types of projects the state is under court order to fully fund," Sciarra said, referring to rulings in the Abbott v. Burke school funding case requiring funding for 31 urban and low-income districts, including Newark. "The Christie Administration will be quite happy if the state superintendent gets Newark to pick up the tab rather than the state."

Paul Nedeau, a spokesperson for Newark schools, said the list of projects covered in the $30.5 million bond were not deemed eligible for SDA dollars by the state.

Kristen MacLean, a spokeswoman for the School Development Authority said the state Department of Education decides whether or not projects are eligible for SDA funding.

"There are many criteria. We would fund a new school facility to combat overcrowding but we would not fund a new football stadium," she said.

The SDA has invested about $1 billion worth of capital improvement projects in Newark, MacLean said. That includes a new 103,000-square foot South Street school that will open for the 2018-19 school year.

The $66.9 million project on the corner of Pennington and Dawson streets, will be the third new school to open in the city since 2016.

Wilson said the district has also applied for additional funding from the SDA but has not heard back on whether those projects will be approved.

Here's how bond money will be spent:

$7.3 million on fire system upgrades at several schools

$107,500 on emergency lighting at several schools

$8.1 million on updates to boilers, chillers, air conditioning systems

$49,800 on electrical service upgrades at Dr. Horton and J.F.K. schools